Eob silos



l E. E. HAWKINS. TENSION LUG FOR SILOS AND'TANKS. APPLfcATloN FILED APL-6.1917. mzNwEn DEC. 11.1918.

' Patented Spt. 2, 1919.

P NIT srarn nimmer n. Hawkins, oF Unaniiina, nlnwvoi'tii.

. lIiENSION-LUG FOR SILOS AND1 TANKS.

Application filed April 6, 1917, SerialNo. 160,262.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FiLe'sR'r E. iHiiwigiNs,

a citizen of the United States,`andresident of Unadilla, county of Otsego, and State of New York, have invented `an `Iniprovement in Tension-Luge for "Silos and Tanks. of whichthe following is aspecification.

My invention has for an object the provision ofan eilicient spring hooking suitable for use in silos Vand `tank work where swelling and shrinkage of the staves 1iecessitate automatic compensation in `the adjustment ofthe hoops to keep the structure rigid and tight at all times.

My invention consists of a hoop `lug providing two `oppositely extending movable looped arms for respectively receiving the ends of the hoop and 1,adjusting nuts, said arms connected together Yin predetermined relation and spring pressed apart against the restraininginfluence oi' the nuts whereby they automatically maintain the hoop under tension.

My invention further consists of a spring hoop lug formed` of a rod of steel coiled in such manner that there are provided two yielding arms having eye portions for ren spectively receivingthe ends of theihoop, said arms having normal spring action away from .each other, but drawn toward each other by adjustable nuts upon theends of the hoop, the spring action maintaining the hoop under constant tension and compensating for any variation in the circumference of the silo or tank due to swelling or shrinkage.

My inventionalso consists of the details ot construction which7 together with the features above specified, will be better understood by reference to the drawings, in which Y Figure 1 is a front view of a spring hoop lug embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a side view of the same with the stave and hoop in section; Fig. 3 is a cross section `of my improved spring hoop lug on line Qaa1` of Fig. 1; and Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the hoop lug.

2 is one of the staves of thesilo `or tank, which latter is circular in cross section; and 4f, 41, are the ends of oneof the hoops 3 which surround the silo or tank, said ends being screw-threaded and provided with adjustable nuts 5. The lugV for connecting the ends of the hoop consists of a spring device formed of a coiled steel rod, the coils of Specification of Letters Patent.

Renewed vessie 1t ,les srie n .as/,1a

which provide `two lhelices fr( connected ,by the body par .6 .meg-w1 wah ae @otros coils, and `also twofspring arms ,ref

Sresrlr @tendine in fcpiissie 'directions and as `@ontinnataits ,of the uppermost @Oils of `the helices `7` and provided with looped ends 9 tlil'eusl ,Which the respective Q11 1S 4: of the ,hoop extend.` jvillbe `noted that these :arms f8 extend over both ends ofthe hoop `whereby it may enabled to li1ei :slatively close tojthe` stave; .,and iit will fur,-

therniore be desirable rthat ,the .coils` of the helices 7 shall ,respectively entend under and over l lille ends of thehoopd tofprevent rotation of the lug under tension. "lnlgeneral construction, the ftension lug provigdes two oppositely directed spring actjuated arms 8, respectively loopedat 9 tofreceive the hoop ends 4 and `proviudje a beariiigforthe nuts 5 screwed lupon said ends. `By screwing down; thenuts 5` the desired,tension`` jipon the hoop 3 may be secured; andftheiieafter said arms willcompensate 1for any` variations iii tensionupon the hoop duefto shrinl'age or swelling ofthe staves making up thollo or tankfbody. `The coils Tperinit great play ofthe `arms 8 without causing them to set under strain, iandiwhile I prefer tlieproportions of these coils shown, I fdonotifestrict myself thereto as their size and shape may be varied.

In cases wlierethediameters of the ,silos or tanks lare large ,and furtliertensionis desirable than `-produced by tliecoils oli'the spring `lug alone, I prefer to employ Lan auxiliarytension `coil spring 15 which is in` terpos'ed between the arms 8, S,and1`naifn tained in position by they. inwardly project-` ing eiidslof the looped `portions ofthe said arms. This spring 15 is of coiled steel and may be of any strengthto suit requirements,iand by substituting springs 15 ofdii ferent strengths, the spring lug has capacity for adjustment in additionto control of nuts 5.

`Vlhile the Jugs, positioned ,astheyware @ha per uponfthelioopjends, and` apainstl the wall of the silo or tank, `areheld againstvslnfting in the plane .ofthepulh Ipifever to provide additional `positioigring means, suchas shown at` 12, said 4inc-3ans,consisting lof, castings each having a curved abutment flange lyand ,fittingwithin the coil parts?, and.y urther `secured in position by a lag screw 4. Tlliese positioning castings 12 will not only" give greater Sellrltr iaspnet@batiment thallia..

j butyalso act as a means sustaining the lugs Patented Sepa?, 1919.

, steel and the reinforcing spring 15 of temin oppositely directed tension arms formed pered steel. These variations are not germane to the principles of the invention, and hence may be adopted to suit special conditions asy may be' deemed most desirable.

It will now be apparent that I have devisedy a novel and useful construction which embodies the features of advantage enumerated `as desirable, and while I have in the present instance shown and described the preferred embodiment thereof which has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, itis to be understood that I do not restrict myself to the details,

las the same are susceptible of modification "in various particulars without departing fromthe spirit or scope of the invention.

Having now described my invention, what` I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patentpisz- Y Y l; In a device of the character stated, the combination of overlapping hoop ends and nuts, with a tension lug comprising a spring metal Vrod coiled into springportions arranged Yrespectively above and below' the hoop ends and having its ends terminating in oppositely directed tension arms formed with loops through which the respective hoop ends extend and upon which the nuts press.

2. In a device of the characterstated, the combination of overlapping hoop ends and nuts, with a tension lug comprising a spring metal rod coiled into spring` portions arrangedl respectively above and below thehoop ends and having its ends terminating in oppositely directed tension arms formed with loops through which the respective hoop ends extend and uponl which the nuts press said looped portions being out of horizontal alinement.

3. In a'device of the character stated, the combination of overlapping hoop ends and nuts, with a tension lug comprising a spring metalrod coiled into spring portions arranged respectively above and below the hoop ends and having its ends terminating with loops through `which the respective hoop ends extend and upon which the nuts press said looped portions being out of horizontal alinement, and an interposed coil spring between the arms to force them apart. s v

Copies of this patent may be obtained for 4. In 'a device of the character stated, the combination of overlapping hoop ends and nuts, with a tension lug comprising a spring metal rod coiled into spring portions arranged respectively above and below the hoop ends and having its ends terminating in oppositely directed tension arms formed with loops through which the respective hoop ends extend and upon which the nuts press said looped portions being out of horizontal alinement and providing oppositely directed projecting portions intermediate of the alinement of the loops, and a coil spring supported by the projecting portions and interposed between the arms for forcing them apart.

5. In a device of the character stated, the combination of overlapping hoop ends and nuts, with a tension lug comprising a spring metal rod coiled into spring portions arranged respectively above and below the hoop ends and having its ends terminating in oppositely directed tension arms formed with loops through which the respective hoop ends extend and upon which the nuts press, and positioning castings between which the hoop ends extend said castings supporting the coiled spring portions of the lug against displacement by bodily shifting in the plane of the hoop ends.

G. In a device of the character stated, the combination of overlapping hoop ends and nuts, with a tension lug comprising a spring metal rod coiled into spring portions and having its ends terminating in oppositely directed tension arms formed with loops through which the hoop ends extend and upon which the nuts press, and an interposed coil spring between the arms to force them apart, each of said looped portions and coil spring out of alinement whereby the hoop ends may be brought into relatively close parallelism and the axis of the coil spring positioned to one side of a plane through the looped portions and hoop ends.

'7. A spring lng for hoops of silos and tanks comprising a steel rod having its bod),v coiled at two places and said coils both to one side of the connecting rod portion and having the free ends from the opposite corresponding ends of the coiled portions bent in opposite directions so as to overlap without crossing and having their ends looped, said looped ends out of aliiieinent and also intermediate of and to the same side of the two coil portions.

In testimony of which invention, I hereunto set my hand.

' ELBERT E. HAVVKINS. Witnesses R. M. HUNTER, E. W. SMITH.

ve cents each, by addressing thel Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

